Inspiration . . .

On a gray misty day head indoors to warm up on a cup of hot chocolate and for little bit of inspiration...cafes are the perfect place to feed your hungry creative soul. Get inspired by the way the light streams through the window and dances across the floor in the cafe, how it illuminates the glass of water, the plants on the wall, signs on the door, sound from the kitchen, listen to the laughter from across the table, listen to the clattering sound of spoons, bottles of soda being opened n glasses being filled, listen to the silent breeze outside every time the cafe door is opened.

Let your soul wander in the cafe and you might find the most mundane things inspiring......

New Beginning - New Cafe in Town

The last memory I had was clock striking 4 O’clock in the morning, before I drifted into deep sleep. I opened my eyes with heaviness in the head. I looked at the clock and realized it was too late and had missed my cab to work already. I had been dreaming about him the entire time. I decided to take the day off. I turned the phone on to place couple of calls, one to my manager and the other one to my dad before turning it off again.

I missed my dad badly, for he would have fetched me a cup of strong coffee or take me to a nice place.  Memories of him filled me with some energy to get up and move on, even in life. I wanted to arrest all the flow of thoughts. A cup of strong coffee was what I wished for.

I wanted a different start for the day and my life. I ditched my usual hangout dugout for a newbie en-route to my office. The board read “45th Street”, unusual for a cafe. It sounded more like a restaurant or a lounge. The ambiance and layout was peculiar. There was mix of greenery and openness which brought some refreshing change from the usual coffee places. I chose to confine myself to a corner though the stool by the counter looked inviting. To my relief I noticed that the music was being played at the right decibels, helping me to calm down. Being a weekday, cafe was relatively less crowded.

I did not look venture into the menu and restricted myself to my usual cappuccino. While I waited for the steaming cup cappuccino to be served, my mind was apprehensive about the taste. I really was not in a mood to be disappointed. I just comforted myself, hoping for the coffee to taste like how I preferred. I closed my eyes and just let myself to sync with the ambiance.

After couple of minutes, the lady whom I have seen earlier in the counter came to me and served me the coffee. She smiled and said "a strong coffee for a strong person; I hope you would like the coffee. In case you need any change, we would serve you another one”. I thanked her and took my coffee. I was about to pop couple of pills to counter the headache, I heard the familiar voice. “Do you mind if I suggest something!?” the same lady said. “Yes”, I said clearly little annoyed. She said “I would suggest you eat something before you take those pills”. I guess, my expressions clearly communicated the need for my privacy. She smiled and went back to the counter. I ordered for a cheese toast involuntarily and her words indeed made sense.    

The effect of the pills started to show signs of improvement in my energy levels. I was feeling better. I liked the feeling of being at 45th Street. I wanted to thank her for her suggestion, but she was engrossed with other customers. I did nothing but just sitting in the corner lost in my world. It was 2 PM already and I had emptied three cups. It was a pleasant day without any kind o tensions hovering in my mind. I looked around to thank her, when I heard “would you like to try anything else!” I reluctantly replied in negative. She smiled and it struck a chord. We started conversing and slowly discussed many things. Couple of more hours had passed by without even realizing. I decided to take some rest and I thanked her for the company and for the great day I had. She smiled and said “we would love to have you back”. I smiled affirmatively.

I felt rejuvenated. I felt I wasn't alone anymore. I felt at peace. I felt at home. I wondered if it was the coffee or the lady or the place that made my day. I did not bother to ponder over it so much, because I knew where I will head to next time

Café Window

Some stories don’t have a clear beginning and end; they leave us in a lifetime of ambiguity. This is what I was ruminating while crossing the busy street. As I waited for the maddening traffic to come to a halt, my eyes fell upon a quaint English café across the street, it was the most charming thing I happen to see and it had the most charming, dainty little glass window. For a moment I forgot the hustling traffic and thought of how life would be if it went on in a wonderful meandering pace? And that was it, next I was sitting in that café looking across the window happy and relaxed.

My impatient heart was calming down as I saw people walking by, I never thought I was people watcher but sitting in that magical place, I was in a constant awe by looking at the passerby’s. I gaped with my glittering eyes the whole world passing by. Few went unnoticed and few became memories. I saw those hauntingly innocent eyes and those creased forehead, I saw them giggling and I saw them morose I saw those charming gray strands and those trembling hands, I saw the laugh lines and the frown, I saw the fake, I saw the real I wanted to know the stories behind all those expressions. I wanted to be a part of their stories live their lives. At that moment I knew, it’s not the beginning, it’s not the end, it’s the journey which is magical and lucky are those whose stories have no clear beginning and no clear end.

We don’t need a life threatening experience or a terminal disease or a broken heart or a dose of sadness in life to know little about life, sometimes a café window can also do a good job.